Dr Angie Cucchi

Dr Cucchi is chartered as a Counselling Psychologist and a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS), and is registered as a Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council in the UK. After completing a BSc in Psychology and Criminology at Middlesex University, London, she worked as a project worker in a residential home for people with severe and enduring psychotic illnesses. This experience ignited Dr Cucchi’s interest in the mind and she went on to complete a Master in Mental Health (MSc) at King’s College London, and a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Counselling Psychology at the University of East London. Dr Cucchi eventually completed a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at City, University of London, whilst also working for a variety of adult mental health services.

Dr Cucchi won the BPS Division of Counselling Psychology (DCoP) 2015 Research Prize and also won the 2015 BPS-DCoP Trainee Prize. Her research and clinical interests lay in cross-cultural issues in the phenomenology and idioms of distress, with a specific focus on Eating Disorders and Personality Disorders. Details of Dr Cucchi's published research projects to date can be found on her ResearchGate profile. 

In addition to being an academic engaged in teaching and research, Dr Cucchi has more than years' experience of working therapeutically with people in the NHS. She specialises in Mentalization Based Therapy and Schema Therapy, but also routinely uses a variety of therapeutic modalities such as person-centred, psychodynamic approaches and cognitive behavioural therapy.

• January 2017– December 2018, Lecturer in Psychology and Counselling, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, London

• Al Hemiary, N., Cucchi, A., Al Nuaimi, A., Al Saffar, H. & Al Ani, K. (in press). Inter-personal versus Content: assessment of communication skills in Iraqi physicians. Heliyon. 
• Cucchi, A. (2020). Learning to stay still: reflective practice in the context of supervision— integrating the personal and the professional. Journal of Psychological Therapies, 5: 1–6. doi:10.33212/jpt.v5n1.2020.1 
• Cucchi, A., Liuzza, M.T., Saleem, Z. & Al Hemiary, N. (2020). A study on the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour in Iraq: lessons for cross-cultural practice. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 1-15, 10.1007/s41811-019-00065-3 
• Randall, J., Cucchi, A. & Stamatopoulou, V. (2019). Making the most of your supervision: Reflecting on selves in context. In: Randall, J. (Ed). Surviving Clinical Psychology: London, Routledge. 6. Cucchi, A. (20
• Cucchi, A. (2018). The importance of communication that keeps at its core emotional states: Evidence from the Middle East. Innovations in Global Health Professions Education https://dx.doi.org/10.20421/ighpe2019.01.10
• Al-Balushi, N., Al-Alawi, M., Al Shekaili, M., Al-Balushi, M., Mirza, H., Al-Huseini, S., Panchatcharam, S., Al-Sibani, N., Cucchi, A. & Al-Adawi, S. (2018). Predictors of Burden of Care Among Caregivers of Drug-Naive Children and Adolescents With ADHD: A Cross-Sectional Correlative Study From Muscat, Oman. Journal of Attention Disorder, https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054718808381
• Cucchi, A., Hampton, J., Perkins_Moulton, A. (2018). Using the validated Reflective Functioning Questionnaire to investigate mentalizing in individuals presenting with eating disorders with and without self-harm. Peer J, 6:e5756, https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5756
• Cucchi, A. (2017). A journey through the ‘rational mind’ and the ‘paradoxical logic of the unconscious’: Implications for treatment guidelines. Counselling Psychology Review, 32, 3, 47-56.
• Cucchi, A. (2016). An academic, professional and personal journey towards change using schema therapy: from symptom- focus to personal growth. Counselling Psychology Review, 31, 1, 38-49
• Cucchi, A. (2016). Differences in mentalising ability in individuals presenting with eating disorders with and without concurrent self-harm: a comparative study. Counselling Psychology Review, 31, 1, 31-37
• Cucchi, A., Ryan, D., Konstantakopoulos, G., Stroumpa, S., Şafak Kaçar, A., Renshaw, S., Landau, S. & Kravariti, E. (2016). Lifetime prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury in patients with eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716000027 
• Cucchi, A. (2016). Why I chose to pursue quantitative research in an increasingly qualitative Field. Division of Counselling Psychology Research Hub http://www.bps.org.uk/networks-and-communities/member-microsite/division-counselling-psychology/why-quantitative

• Mentalization
• Self harm
• Eating disorders
• Personality disorders
• Cross-cultural issues

Doctorate thesis supervision (DPsych) 2018, Addictive Behaviours

• British Psychological Research Prize 2015
• British Psychological Society Trainee Prize 2015

• British Psychological Society (CPsych) Division of Counselling Psychology Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

• “Middle Eastern Psychological Association”. Cross-cultural Psychology: Working with Western models. Kuwait, March 2019.
• The importance of communication that keeps at its core emotional states. Evidence from the Middle East. “Medical Humanities in the Middle East”. Doha, Qatar, 2018.
• Talk 1: Mentalizing in Eating Disorders and Personality Disorders: the role of emotions; Talk 2: a study on the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour in Iraq: lessons for cross-cultural practice. “International Psychology Conference Dubai”. Dubai, 2018
• Dance and Mental Health Malta. “Psychiatry and the Art”. Malta, 2018.
• Counselling Psychology as a career. “Careers and Mental Health”. London, UK, 2018
• Counselling Psychology: what is it?, Psychology Undergraduate Conference, London, UK, 2018; 2017-2016-2015.
• Eating Disorders and Self Harm: a feminist perspective, "Psychology of Women Section Conference (POWS)", Windsor, UK, 2016.
• Mentalising in Eating Disorders and Self Harm. Second annual Post-graduate Psychology Conference, London, UK, 2015

• 2019 Workshop on Counselling Psychology & basic Counselling Psychology Skills. Universita di Bologna (Italy).
• Consultancy 2018 Workshop on Mentalization Based Therapy for qualified psychiatrists and psychologists and trainees at Sultan Al Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat (Oman)
• Professional activities ad hoc reviewing for Counselling Psychology Review Omani Medical Specialty Board

Teaching: 

• Humanistic and Integrative Approaches to Psychotherapy
• Contemporary Theory and Practice in Integrative Psychotherapy
• Counselling Psychology
• Extension Supervision

Further training:

• Doctorate Research Supervision Skills (University module) 
• Essential Clinical Supervision Skills (2 days), BPS accredited
• Mentalization-based Therapy Practitioner level (2 days)
• Mentalization-based Therapy Basic Training (3 days)
• Working with Personality Disorder: Raising Awareness (3 days)